Ring in the Lunar New Year at Midnight in DC’s Chinatown 

“Midnight Madness” Brings Lion Dances Through Chinatown to Bless Local Businesses 

Media Contact: Samantha Pell | LRA PR | 425-647-6478 | sam@lindarothpr.com

WASHINGTON, DC (February 10, 2026) – Chinatown will ring in the Lunar New Year on Monday, February 16 with Midnight Madness, a late-night celebration hosted by the 1882 Foundation and the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID). Beginning at 11:30pm, lion dancers will take to the streets of Chinatown to bless the local businesses and spread luck to the community. 

Midnight Madness will mark the official arrival of the Year of the Fire Horse, bringing residents and visitors together for a powerful cultural moment to honor fresh beginnings, prosperity, and good fortune – and the resilience, strength, and unity of communities and the city. For Midnight Madness, the Hung Ci Lion Dance Troupe will lead the walk around Chinatown, as participating businesses will receive red envelopes and lettuce to feed the lions as a part of the “Choy Cheng” tradition, which symbolizes spreading wealth and warding off the negative spirits. 

The lion dancers will start at the 1882 Foundation Office, move down 8th Street, then 7th Street, and end at Anthem Row. 

If the public wants to follow the lion dance through the streets and to local businesses, they are encouraged to meet at the 1882 Foundation Office at 508 I St NW, Washington DC at 11:30pm on February 16th. No RSVPs are needed. Light refreshments from Beans ‘n’ Bánh Mì will also be provided for attendees at the 1882 Foundation.

Midnight Madness is also part of a larger, two-week Lunar New Year celebration welcoming the Year of the Fire Horse in Chinatown. The celebration brings together cultural traditions, community storytelling, local businesses and nightlife across Downtown DC.

At the heart of the celebration is Nurture The Neighborhood: Chinatown Small Business Week (February 16-28), an initiative that honors the resilience and unity of the DC community by encouraging them to gather in Chinatown. By attending the various Lunar New Year events throughout the neighborhood, participants have the opportunity to win gift cards. These cards are specifically intended to help you shop and dine at local Chinatown businesses, ensuring that the spirit of prosperity and good fortune directly supports the neighborhood’s legacy shops and restaurants.

Programming begins on Monday, February 16 with the Chinese Youth Club Culture Walk, inviting the community to learn about Chinese New Year traditions and life in Chinatown directly from those who grew up there, followed by traditional lion dance performances throughout the neighborhood. The evening culminates with Midnight Madness. 

Additional highlights include the Lunar New Year Night and Taiwanese Heritage Night with the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena (Feb. 19 and 20, respectively), community art-making events such as the Art of the Fire Horse (Feb. 21), Mahjong Night hosted by the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (Feb. 24) and nightlife events celebrating Asian music and culture (Feb. 20 and Feb. 27). 

A centerpiece of the celebration occurs on Sunday, February 22 with Lunar New Year performances and the Annual 2026 Lunar New Year Parade at 2PM, bringing vibrant color, music, and tradition to the streets of Chinatown to celebrate the Year of the Horse — marking the year 4724 in the lunar calendar. 

For a full schedule of Lunar New Year events, visit lionspathdc.org. A flyer with the full event schedule is also available HERE. Photos and videos from the 2025 Midnight Madness are HERE (photo credit to 1882 Foundation). 

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About 1882 Foundation 

The 1882 Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan organization approved by IRS, seeks to broaden public awareness of the history and continuing significance of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. It does this through projects and activities associated with three overlapping initiatives. They are: Building collaborations nationally focused on organizing an annual 1882 Symposium in Washington D.C., recording oral histories and preserving sites guided by Talk Story concepts, strengthening public education about the Chinese and Asian American experience by promoting attention to curriculum content and resources, encouraging teacher workshops, and making material more easily accessible for educators and researchers.

About DowntownDC BID 

Downtown DC is the most diverse and exciting neighborhood in one of the most important cities in the world. Here, locals and visitors find all the most thrilling experiences of DC in 140 walkable and transit-rich blocks: business, education and government; shopping and dining; parks, art, music, sports, theater, history — adding up to a bright future. Founded in 1997, the DowntownDC BID’s area includes 530 properties and is defined by Massachusetts Avenue on the north, including the Walter E. Washington Convention Center at Mount Vernon Square, to Constitution Avenue on the south, and from Louisiana Avenue on the east to 16th Street on the west.